


Don't Smoke In Bed

by Alithea



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst, Cigarettes, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 12:26:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11555184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alithea/pseuds/Alithea
Summary: A relationship complex in its simplicity Tae Takemi and Sae Niijima must come to a decision about where things stand. Sae/Tae angsty goodness.





	Don't Smoke In Bed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [riskbreakered](https://archiveofourown.org/users/riskbreakered/gifts).



"Those things will kill you, you know," Tae said as the flame from a lighter flickered briefly next to her, casting a momentary shadow across the dark room. The woman next to her inhaled and then offered the cigarette over. There might have been a smile on her face as Tae accepted it, took a drag, and then passed it back.

There was a stint of silence and then the woman stubbed the cigarette out and rolled over onto her side to look at Tae. Their relationship was complex in its simplicity. They would meet maybe once or twice a month, leave their marks on each other, and then part. Tae appreciated the break from her research, and the other woman- Well, it was never easy to read the lawyer's thoughts, but Tae expected the younger woman needed the outlet and appreciated the discretion. 

"I'm making a career change," the younger woman said suddenly. 

"Oh?" Tae smirked and then chuckled softly. "I am too, in a way."

"I did hear that a back alley doctor had her name cleared."

"And you? Prosecutions not working out?"

"No." She rolled onto her back and shut her eyes. "Not after everything that's happened." She sat up then and looked at Tae critically. "But... I think you know exactly what I'm talking about."

Tae ran her fingers through her short blue hair and nodded. She moved to turn the light on, but the other woman stopped her. Pulling her close to take her lips. It was still early in the evening and there was no rush to get into such a deep conversation, but Tae pulled away and shook her head.

"I wouldn't have told you even if you had asked me about it, Sae."

"I know. I only thought about it later... towards the end. By then I wasn't feeling the need to go around arresting people though." She sat up and pulled her knees towards her chest. Her grey hair shielding her face. "I suppose it's not hard to believe that two people close to me would feel the need to hide something like that from me."

Tae didn't say anything. 

"I was ruthless in the pursuit of my career. It blinded me."

"Being hyper focused is different from being blind, but similar." She ran her fingers down Sae's back. "Thinking of other changes?"

"Are you?"

Tae Takemi had always been irascible in the pursuit of herself. She had decided after she had been run out of her chosen field and into the life of a back alley doctor that she wasn't going to try and be anyone else's ideal. That's why she went back to her punk roots in her style of dress. There was no need to pretend to be everyone else's version of respectable. She continued her research on her own terms. And every other part of her life, love life included, she also continued on her own terms. 

Their affair had an unspoken rule that nothing was permanent, and nothing went too deep. It was the sort of lie that went against everything Tae had worked towards in herself. The cavalier attitude she had come to present on the outside had been reflected back at her and she knew, as she almost certainly always had, that she cared deeply about the people in her life. 

The shades in the room had been drawn to block out the lights from the street below, and to guard against the morning sun when it arrived. Tae could make out bare forms in the darkness and she could feel the mounting tension in the air from her continued silence. 

"I think a change would be good, don't you?" She sighed and remembered the first time she had ever seen Sae. The perfection in the lines of the woman's eyeliner (cat eyes), the perfect silhouette of her black hat accompanying a low cut black dress, and the peek of a garter that appeared whenever she moved. "I'd like a less complicated relationship."

Sae nodded. The gesture barely seen, but felt. Her movements suddenly a little more stiff, guarded. 

Tae shut her eyes and tried to force words out of her mouth. They released as an almost stuttered sigh. She shook her head and said, "Well… But, that might be easier for you if you don't have to worry about your standing with the Prosecutor's Office."

"Would it? I still have-"

"Your sister. Yes, I know." She considered bringing the past year up again, but decided against it. There was nothing to gain in bringing up that Sae's little sister probably would not have been shocked or concerned about who Sae chose to involve herself with. 

"I should go."

"If you have to."

Sae left the room quickly after the brief fumble for her things, and Tae wished there was something more for her to say but couldn't find the words to keep the younger woman in the room with her. She was left in the dark with the lingering sound of the door shutting resounding in her ears. She moved over to where Sae had been and reached out along the nightstand. Fingers brushing over a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She huffed and pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Exhaling smoke with irritation, and a feeling of loss. 

"These things are going to kill me," she said, "So why can't I ever quit?"

End.

**Author's Note:**

> Fic title from the song with same name- "Don't Smoke in Bed" as performed by k.d. lang


End file.
